Al-Qaeda in Iraq

al-Qaeda in Iraq, also called Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, was a Salafi jihadist organization that lasted from 17 October 2004 to 13 October 2006. It was formed after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad declared his allegiance to al-Qaeda, and it lasted until it merged with other groups to form the Islamic State of Iraq.

History
al-Qaeda in Iraq was founded on 17 October 2004 when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi declared his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, and he became the leader of the al-Qaeda organization's branch in Iraq. The organization consisted not only of Iraqi insurgents, but also of foreign fighters from other Arab countries. The group began its violent activities almost immediately, beheading Shosei Koda on 30 October after Japan refused to withdraw its troops from the Iraq War. On 19 December 2004 a series of car bombings killed 60 people in the holy Shi'ite cities of Najaf and Karbala, and the organization carried out several suicide bombings, mass shootings, and IED attacks against Shi'ite civilians, anti-jihadist Iraqi civilians, the New Iraqi Army, and the MNF-I coalition troops, killing thousands. On 9 November 2005 the group expanded its operations to Jordan when 60 people were killed in three bomb attacks against hotels in the capital of Amman. In September-October, there were signs of a possible split between the Sunni insurgents who sought to achieve greater rights for their branch of Islam in Iraq through violence and a referendum, and the AQI, who sought to kill all who took part in the referendum due to their interaction in the same political process as Shi'ites and Kurds.

On 19 November 2005, the group won the Battle of Haditha against the United States after the Haditha Massacre (in which the US Marine Corps killed 24 Iraqi civilians in retaliation for an IED attack) led to the rallying of Iraqi resistance against the Americans. The organization was pushed out of their strongholds in Anbar Province in the middle of 2006, and in September "Anbar Awakening" was formed out of Sunni sheikhs (who were paid $5,000 a month by the Iraqi government to fight the insurgents) to continue the fight. On 13 October 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq merged with the Mujahideen Shura Council to form the Islamic State of Iraq.